By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. AnswerStat magazine (AS): Joe, you own and operate Mediconnect, a telephone answering service for the healthcare industry. How did you get started and how long have you been in business? Joseph Sameh (JS): I was a business/clinical practice manager beginning in 1976. Growing practices was among my primary responsibilities. Each […]
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Call Center Shrinkage
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD In retail, the term shrinkage is euphemistically used to reference stock which “disappears” before it can be sold. In essence it is a product that the retailer bought, but can’t sell. To be direct, shrinkage is theft. While some of this occurs in the form of shoplifting, it also results […]
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My Career in Broadcasting
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD In the years between high school graduation and my first real job, I took on a variety of part-time work while being a full-time student. One job was at a machine shop, where my sole goal was to have all body parts intact when I left. Another job was laboring […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Last month, in part one of this article, we discussed Benchmarking. The premise was that there is value in being able to statistically compare your call center with other centers. Taking that concept to the next level, there is the more intense and equally more valuable Business Improvement Group. Business […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD North American culture salutes the solitary leader, the charismatic visionary, and the lone voice. It celebrates those boldly marching to the beat of a different drum. It is this perspective that makes for exciting cinema, painting an inspirational picture for viewers to admire and emulate; it successfully offers to fill […]
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Service Sold It
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Growing up I remember a commercial on the radio with the tag line, “Service sold it.” Even as a young child I was able to grasp the concept that this business provided such a high level of service that their mere reputation was sufficient for them to close sales and […]
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Shoot the Puck
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. It’s only been a few years that I have been following the sport of hockey. Before that, a myriad of other athletic diversions captured my attention. As a youngster, I did what many of my peers did and played Little League baseball. Not that I was good at it or […]
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Al Gore and the Internet
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD When I write, there is often a fact that needs to be verified or supporting material to be gathered. My first recourse in such matters is my personal library, which is not small and often contains what I seek if it is business related. I also am prone to save […]
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A Matter of Perspective
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD As the publisher of a trade magazine, I frequently travel to conventions and industry shows. And as a consultant, I frequently travel to my clients’ call centers. Therefore, it may surprise you that I don’t like to travel, especially to fly – the unpredictability, the impersonality, and the loss of […]
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PBX Attendant Consoles
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. PBXs (and ACDs) are generally configured with an attendant console. Though a console can take on different forms and appearances, at its most basic, it is a fancy telephone which is given “permissions” to do advanced features that cannot be accomplished by other phones and users on the system. Traditional […]